The Hogwarts Library
Ernst didn't read; he devoured.
His enhanced brain, operating at nearly 30% capacity and bolstered by the Red Queen's processing power, treated the Hogwarts library not as a collection of books, but as a database to be indexed.
Within a month, he had assimilated the curriculum of a seven-year education.
He analyzed Polyjuice Potion and Veritaserum, breaking them down into chemical formulas.
To him, they were just bio-molecular reprogramming agents.
He studied the Draught of Living Death, realizing it was a suspended animation compound similar to the Kryptonian stasis tech.
Then came the artifacts.
He read about the Sorting Hat (a sentient neural scanner), the Philosopher's Stone (a matter transmuter), and the Sword of Gryffindor (goblin-wrought alloy).
But it was the Dark Arts section that fascinated him most.
He found references to the Unforgivable Curses.
Avada Kedavra, an instant cessation of biological function.
Crucio, direct stimulation of pain receptors.
And deeper still, he found the darkest secret: Horcruxes.
The splitting of the soul to anchor oneself to the mortal plane.
Inefficient, Ernst concluded, closing the tome Secrets of the Darkest Art.
Splitting the soul causes mental instability and insanity.
Voldemort was a fool. There are better ways to achieve immortality.
While Ernst studied, he was also working.
As students bustled through the library, Ernst sat quietly in the back.
To the naked eye, he was reading. In reality, he was hunting.
He released a swarm of microscopic nanobots into the air.
They drifted through the castle, landing on students, collecting hair follicles and skin flakes.
Back in his makeshift lab in the Room of Requirement (which he had discovered by deducing the castle's spatial anomalies), Ernst analyzed the samples.
"Red Queen," Ernst said, looking at the holographic DNA helix.
"Analysis."
"Subject DNA contains a specific mutation on the 23rd chromosome," the AI reported.
"It is similar to the X-Gene, but distinct. It allows the subject to manipulate ambient dimensional energy, what they call 'magic'."
"It's radiation," Ernst realized.
"Generations of exposure to magical energy caused a genetic drift. That's why they care about 'Purebloods'. It's not nobility; it's genetic potency."
Ernst's hunger for knowledge eventually outgrew the books. He went to the source.
Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, looking weary.
"Another question, Dr. Ernst?" Dumbledore asked, putting down his quill.
"The Law of Elemental Transfiguration," Ernst said, pacing the room.
"Gamp's Law states you cannot create food from nothing. But energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed. If I convert enough thermal energy into matter using the equation E=mc^2, I should be able to conjure a steak. Why does magic fail where physics succeeds?"
Dumbledore blinked.
"Magic has... limits, Doctor. Intent matters."
"Intent is a variable," Ernst countered.
"If I bypass the wand and use a direct neural interface to shape the mana, can I override the entropy decay?"
Dumbledore stared at him. The questions were becoming terrifying.
Ernst wasn't learning magic; he was dissecting it.
He was looking for the gears inside God.
Dumbledore began to avoid him.
He realized that inviting Ernst into Hogwarts was like inviting a wolf into a sheepfold.
But with the British government breathing down his neck for the nuclear data, the old wizard's hands were tied.
Diagon Alley
"Enough theory," Ernst decided one morning.
"I need hardware."
He left the castle, Azazel trailing behind him carrying a silver briefcase, an item Ernst had enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
It looked like a briefcase, but inside, it was the size of a garage.
They tapped the brick wall behind the Leaky Cauldron and stepped into Diagon Alley.
Ernst ignored the apothecaries and broom shops.
He walked straight to a peeling gold sign: Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
The shop was dusty and quiet.
Thousands of narrow boxes were piled to the ceiling.
"Good afternoon," a soft voice whispered.
Garrick Ollivander stepped from the shadows, his pale eyes shining like moons.
"I wondered when I would see you," Ollivander said, staring at Ernst.
"You have a... strange aura, sir. Not a wizard, but... something else."
"I require a wand," Ernst said flatly.
"The wand chooses the wizard, Mr...?"
"Dr. Ernst. And I don't have time for mysticism. Give me a tool."
Ollivander bristled at the disrespect but maintained his professional veneer.
"Very well. Let us try this. Dragon heartstring, ten inches, ebony. Rigid."
Ernst took the wand.
He didn't just wave it.
He closed his eyes. He activated his Energy Absorption ability.
He sensed the faint, pulsing frequency of the dragon core.
Frequency detected. Bio-magnetic resonance adjusting.
Ernst tuned his own body's energy field to match the wand perfectly.
He mimicked the "soul" the wand was looking for.
"Lumos," Ernst said.
FLASH.
A blinding white light erupted from the tip, illuminating every corner of the shop.
It was perfect. Stable. Powerful.
"Extraordinary!" Ollivander gasped.
"A perfect match on the first try! In all my years..."
"Give me another," Ernst interrupted.
Ollivander froze. "I beg your pardon?"
"Another wand," Ernst said, placing the ebony wand on the counter.
"Different core. Different wood."
"But sir, the match was perfect! To reject a wand that chose you is, "
"Do it."
Flustered and offended, Ollivander grabbed another box.
"Unicorn hair. Ash wood. Twelve inches. Ideally suited for the loyal."
Ernst took it.
New frequency. Unicorn hair: High purity, low volatility. Adjusting resonance.
Ernst shifted his internal energy again.
He became "loyal" in the eyes of the magic.
"Lumos."
FLASH.
The light was even brighter than before.
The wand hummed in his hand, singing with connection.
Ollivander's jaw dropped.
"Impossible. Two perfect matches? The odds are..."
"Another," Ernst commanded.
"Phoenix feather."
Ollivander, now sweating, handed him a wand of holly.
Ernst adjusted. Match.
"Lumos."
FLASH.
For the next hour, Ernst systematically dismantled Ollivander's worldview.
He tried Veela hair. He tried Thestral tail hair. He tried Vine wood, Yew, and Oak.
Every single time, Ernst tuned his energy signature to become exactly what the wand wanted.
To the wands, he wasn't a stranger; he was their soulmate.
"How?" Ollivander whispered, slumping into his chair, surrounded by open boxes.
"The laws of wandlore... the wand chooses..."
"The wand is a conduit, Mr. Ollivander," Ernst said, placing the twelfth wand on the counter.
"It is a radio receiver looking for a signal. I am a universal transmitter."
He pointed to the first wand, the Dragon Heartstring.
"I'll take this one. It has the highest kinetic output."
He threw a bag of Galleons on the counter.
"Keep the change," Ernst said.
"And stop trembling. It's just physics."
Ernst walked out of the shop, leaving the greatest wandmaker in Britain questioning his entire existence.
"Azazel," Ernst said, admiring his new weapon.
"Now that I have a focus... let's go find some books on Animagus transformation. I have a theory to test on Arnold."
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